YouTubers Stage Backyard ‘Mario Kart’ Battle With Roman Candles

They call themselves the Nothing To Do Crew—and by the looks of this video, they mean it.

The Belleville, Mich.-based team of intrepid filmmakers crafted a real-life Mario Kart course in their backyard—but unlike other IRL homages to the beloved video game, this one features a “battle mode” with balloons, bananas, and Roman candles.

“This is quite possibly the craziest idea that we have had,” the crew writes in the description accompanying their video on YouTube. “We all LOVE Mario Kart and one day I through [sic] out the idea that we should build our own track and have a race.”

The team couldn’t afford real go-karts, so instead they built makeshift replicas out of cardboard and liquid nails—which they “drive” Flintstones-style by running and carrying the vehicles.

The other modifications they made to the classic Mario Kart rules follow in this charming DIY aesthetic.

Players throw the items at each other while running around the track, and if they make contact, you have to spin around in a circle just like in the original N64 game:

Nothing To Do Crew’s first venture into real-life Mario Kart stuck to the default racing mode:

But after recording their ridiculous race, the team decided it merited a sequel. This time, they leveled up by simulating the game’s “battle mode,” in which players race around while trying to pop each other’s preciously guarded balloons.

But they would’ve had a tough time popping a real balloon with shells and bananas, so the Nothing To Do Crew went with with a more dangerous device, absent from the original game: Roman candles.

The team wrote in the second video’s description, “This day truly brought us all back in time to our childhood dreams.”

After user homefree122 shared a clip from the battle with Reddit’s Gaming community, commenters were divided on whether the use of Roman candles was dangerous or awesome—or both:

In a New Year’s update to their YouTube channel, two members of the Nothing to Do Crew encourage their viewers to chime in with ideas for a follow-up: “If you have any suggestions for something you’d like us to make, let us know.”

Perhaps their next DIY video will bring Super Smash Bros. to life with foam bats and hammers, or act out Banjo-Kazooie with real bears and tropical birds.

“We’re all about finding new ways to entertain yourself when you have nothing to do,” they share in their most recent vlog, “and showing you why we are broke.”